Dawson, along with Kasich’s longtime political confident Don Thibaut, were recently hired as a lobbyists for GTECH – a company specializing in lottery operations that stands to reap huge financial benefits if the budget bill, containing the language delivered by Dawson, passes in its current form.

The hiring of Dawson and Thibuat – who has never worked as a lobbyist before – turned a lot of heads in Columbus. Regular readers of Plunderbund won’t be surprised. The Kasich administration has been sending a direct and very clear message (read: threat) to anyone who wants to do business with the state: hire our guys, and we’ll help you out. Hire Democrats, and you’re shit out of luck.

GTECH got the message.

For decades GTECH employed the Success Group, an arrangement that began in the mid-1980s when Democrat Dick Celeste was governor and Democrat Dennis Wojtanowski launched the Success Group. Even through Republican administrations (Voinovich and Taft), the Success Group kept GTECH as their client. Suddenly that changed under Kasich.

GTECH abruptly fired the Success Group and hired first-time lobbyist Thibaut and Dawson.

Dawson, like Thibaut, has been working in Republican politics for decades. As the story goes, he entered politics when he saw Mike DeWine speak at a central Ohio hotel where Dawson worked. Without a college degree Dawson was lucky to sign on to the communications team for the Voinovich/DeWIne administration which he used as a stepping stone to become communications director for Senator Mike DeWine. In recent years he’s worked for the politically powerful coal barons at the Boich Group. Not surprisingly, Dawson’s client list has grown in recent months to include charter school and energy companies eager to gain favor with the Kasich administration.

It’s not clear if Dawson is just a clueless tool being used by GTECH or if he intentionally tried to screw the state by delivering language forcing the lottery to contract with his client by a certain date despite the fact that it will most likely cause the state to lose money on the deal.

A longtime follower of Ohio politics familiar with Dawson seems to think it’s the former: “Since Dawson is the one who appears to be doing the heavy lifting maybe stupidity — not greed — is the reason he set up a deal to hurt the state.”

I can’t answer the question for sure but clearly the fault is not Dawson’s alone. Widener and the Senate should never have included this language in the budget without reviewing it and realizing the damaging impact it could have on the state.

Kasich promised to keep the lobbyists and their snouts out of state government, but all he did was bring in his own, much bigger, much hungrier pigs. And he’s got plans to keep them very well fed over the next 4 years.

The troughs are full and the (Republican) pigs are feasting and that seems to be exactly what Kasich and Republican legislators had in mind all along.

Why is the administration spending $200,000 a month and $400 an hour for gaming consultants, who are studying the lottery as part of their contract, if they are not going to wait for their recommendations and go ahead with this fire sale? Also the Ohio Lottery operates with 4 % operating costs, but the private vendor gets 5% tax free? This saves the state money how? Also so the lottery has broken sales records in 8 of the last 11 months, even Mary Taylor had to admit it was run in her forced audit. Can any other reason than person greed explain how selling this well run state asset makes sense?

Adrienne

Thanks for the information.

Fotogirlcb2002

well if Kasich can hold up the casinos for increased tax money should nt we be able to hold up the sell of the lottery for a higher sale price…………….
wake up Ohio hes giving away our state ! and the people we elected to help us arent protecting us or this state………………
what does it take to start a petition to investigate him for impeachment — theres bound to be something illegal hes done here.

Anonymous

… And the Rape and Pillage of the State of Ohio continues.

Anonymous

It’s my understanding Ohio doesn’t have recall provision in the State Constitution.